Recently, Padres third baseman Chase Headley said he won’t negotiate a contract extension with the team during the season. Headley is eligible for his fourth year of arbitration going into 2014, after which he would become eligible for free agency. Headley has, for a while, been one of the most bandied-about names in trade rumors, but Jon Heyman reports the Padres have no intention of moving their star.

Padres people see Headley as part of their future and believe the team has played well enough with the current crop that they aren’t eager to trade their star to obtain a prospect package.

“We can’t wait forever,” [Padres GM Josh] Byrnes said. “We have a group that’s trying to take it to the next level. And that’s what we’re hoping to do.”

Headley finished fifth in NL MVP voting last year with an. 855 OPS, 31 home runs, and a league-leading 115 RBI playing half his games in one of baseball’s most pitcher-friendly ballparks. He is off to a great start once again, carrying a .912 OPS into tonight’s game against the Nationals.

That was previous owner John Moores, who took the TV money and ran. Moorad would have done the same, but wasn’t approved as owner. Now the Padres are owned by members of the O’Malley family who do things differently, backed by local minority owners who aren’t broke by a long shot. You can be skeptical, but it might be best to take a wait and see attitude this time.